My Guardian

by Alanea Alder

  He guided her down the middle of the cavern that acted as their 'main street'. "Across from the dining hall, we have our training grounds and a recreational center. We have our own library, movie room, small commissary, pool, and storage center."

  "Pool! Y'all have a pool! Where is it?" Eva looked around excitedly.

  "Behind the mess hall. I take it from your reaction that you enjoy swimming."

  "I'm a tiger shifter, of course I love swimming. When can we go?" She looked up at him as if he had promised her the sun and stars.

  "I have something better, remind me to show you later."

  Her eyes narrowed. "Better than a pool?"

  "Better than a pool."

  "Okay, I'm trusting ya on this. So how does the commissary work?" Eva walked over and peeked in the window.

  "It is on an honor system. Because the city is impregnable, we do not have to do patrols the way other city's units have to, so we have more downtime. In that downtime, we have all taken up hobbies. The Kappa Unit likes to garden, so they have their own indoor hydroponics building. They keep us in fresh vegetables and fruit year round. Beau and Riordan from the Lambda Unit like to build things, so every couple months they head to Albuquerque to hunt for quality wood pieces, and they have their own workshop. Deacon and Belenos from the Theta Unit love to cook, so they run our mess hall. Grant from my unit knits; he says it calms him. Anyway, he creates the most intricate blankets I have ever seen. Everything gets put in the store along with anything extra picked up in the city. If someone needs something, they grab it, but they will always leave something in exchange or offer service hours, for example, trading tunnel escort shifts with the item's creator."

  Eva laughed. "I'd rather have one of the unit warriors escort me than that asshole from earlier."

  "What exactly happened?" he asked.

  When she told him what was said and how the escort had shoved Meryn, he felt his blood pressure begin to skyrocket. Not only was Meryn mistreated, but was done so in full view of a unit warrior. Which translated into showing no respect for Magnus or the unit warriors; it was a treacherous mix.

  "I will speak to Magnus at dinner. Since Aiden is visiting, my entire unit is invited to dinner during their stay."

  "Was that Aiden's request?"

  "Yes. He does not often get the chance to travel around to the different cities and meet with the other units, so he wanted to take advantage of his visit."

  "So where do you live?"

  Adriel lifted their joined hands and pointed down the street. "I am the very last house. It is set a bit apart from the others. As the unit leader, I did not want to make them feel like I was breathing down their necks."

  "Or they could think that you were trying to act superior to them."

  Adriel froze in his tracks. "You do not think they really viewed my actions in that manner, do you?"

  Eva tilted her head and looked at him. He found her orange and amber colored eyes mesmerizing. "Probably not since you're very sincere, and your actions show you put the men first. But it could be seen that way by others."

  Adriel began to go over his interactions with the men. Did they believe him to be rank conscious? Was he alienating himself from them, and if he was, was he missing things that a good leader would see because of it? He frowned until he felt soft lips on his. He stepped back, surprised. She laughed at his expression.

  "Didn't mean to startle you, but you looked too serious. Your thoughts were taking you away from me, and I didn't like it."

  "You can reach my lips." He blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

  Her cheeks flushed as she dropped his hand to wrap her arms around his neck. "I am kinda tall."

  "I like it. Truly. I do not have to bend in half for a kiss. I do not know how my commander manages with his mate being so tiny."

  "She's pregnant; I'm pretty sure they figured it out."

  He laughed. In the past two days, he had laughed twice. That was more than he had in years. Maybe the city had needed a crazy human and a sexy tiger to breathe new life into the ancient halls.

  "Thank you."

  "For what?"

  "For this." He pointed to their path. "For walking with me and talking. I cannot remember having so lovely a time."

  She gave him a wicked smile and stepped back. "Get us to your house and it will get better."

  He tilted his head back and began to picture anything but his mate naked and begging. He had sworn to himself that whenever he was blessed with a mate, he would court her and take things slow; he would do it right. He looked back down, and she winked at him.

  Gods above give him strength.

  They started walking again and his eyes strayed to perfectly rounded ass encased in worn denim.

  And stamina.

  *****

  When they arrived at his house, he found that he was nervous. He had been living alone for centuries, but despite the many years, he had not accumulated much. He opened the door, and she walked inside.

  "There is not much..." he began. But he caught her expression. Her eyes were wide with wonder, and she took in every small detail.

  Though he did not have a lot, what he did have was very special to him. He had collected small pieces here and there in his travels; in the human world, they would be considered priceless, but to him each told a story.

  "Everything is so clean and perfect. I mean, I kinda figured it would be clean since your collar is starched and your uniform looks like it's made of cardboard, but I thought it would be like hospital clean. This feels homey." Her nose twitched. "Is that cinnamon?"

  He nodded and led her to a small kitchen. When he was home, he kept a handful of cinnamon sticks in a small pot of water on the stove.

  He pointed to the small silver pot. "My mother taught me that. Growing up, I believed that her kitchen was the most magical place in any of the four cities."

  Eva turned to him her eyes sad. "You miss her very much, don't you?"

  He took a deep breath and froze his features. "I do."

  She walked over and wrapped her arms around his waist. "You don't have to do that, you know. I won't tell anyone if you get upset. You're my mate, and anything that happens between us, stays between us. You can drop your mask with me."

  Her words snapped the strings that held his facade in place. When his mask fell away, it felt as if a huge weight fell to the ground with it. He slumped forward and rested his cheek on her shoulder. "I love how tall you are," he murmured, breathing in her scent.

  "I've always hated it, but if it helps to support you, then I won't curse Fate for my extra inches anymore."

  Adriel stood up straight and looked down. "I do not understand. You are perfect, how could you hate anything about yourself?"

  She sucked in her breath. "You really mean that, don't you? You really do."

  "Of course I do, I do not make it a habit of saying things I do not mean."

  "Maybe someday I'll see myself the way you see me, until then... show me the rest of your house."

  "There is not much. Here is the kitchen. There is a half bathroom for guests tucked under the stairs." They walked back the way they came. "This is the living room and on the other side of the stairs is my office." He led her up the stairs. "To the left is the master bedroom, to the right a guest bathroom and two guest rooms. It is not much, but it suits my needs perfectly."

  "Do you want me in the guest room?" She arched an eyebrow.

  "No, but I swore I would treat my mate with utmost respect. I would court you properly and shower you with gifts until you felt ready to be claimed. I did not want you to feel rushed."

  "What if I don't really need any gifts and would prefer you to court me in bed? We can claim each other when it feels right."

  He swallowed hard. "I could show you the master bedroom."

  "Sounds like a right good idea to me."

  He opened the door and paused. Turning to her, he cleared his throat. "Would you allow me to carry you over the thre
shold? It is a human tradition, but I feel we need to do something to honor the occasion."

  She blushed and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Yes, please."

  He easily swept her up and held her close to his chest. "Welcome home, Eva Mae Miller."

  CHAPTER SIX

  Eva felt her mouth go dry when he welcomed her home. She didn't want to ruin the romantic mood she had finally gotten him into by bringing up the fact that she already had a home back in Texas. Once inside the room, he set her down gently.

  "It is just a simple bedroom suite, we can order new if you would like."

  She took in the dark wood furniture and cream linens. From the outside, she had expected his house to be all metals and chrome, but once inside, it was warm woods and soft creams and whites. She had a feeling that the house very much reflected the man.

  "I love it; don't you dare change a thing." She walked over to the bed and hopped up, which was saying something. She usually didn't have to hop for anything. She stretched out, extending her toes and her fingers. She didn't hit a headboard or footboard. She sat up to see him smiling at her.

  "Is this custom built?"

  He nodded. "I'm six five. Even with a king size bed, I felt like my feet were about to hang over. I had this built and some of the craftsmen in the marketplace made the linens."

  "I'm never leaving this bed!" She rolled around never hitting the edge.

  He walked forward and gently pulled her boots off. Once her boots were off, she had to come out of her clothes. Forgetting he was even in the room, she yanked off her shirt and jeans. Down to her panties, bra, and tank top she resumed rolling around on the bed. She had never felt anything more decadent in her life.

  "You look like a kitten kneading her blanket."

  She stopped flexing her fingers and looked over at him. His mouth was twitching with a smile, but his eyes were dark with lust.

  "I really do like your bed."

  "Yes, I can tell."

  She patted the space next to her. "Come lie down with me."

  He frowned. "In the middle of the day?"

  "It feels even better in the middle of the day. You take some time to relax while the whole world is carrying on outside, and you carve just a bit of time for yourself. Come on."

  "This is highly irregular," he said, pulling off his tie. He folded it carefully on a wooden stand in the corner. Next was his shirt, which was carefully arranged on a hanger and hung from the closet door. He paid no less attention to his slacks. She noticed that her vampire mate was nearly hairless. He was just inch after inch of smooth marble-like skin. No matter how simple or mundane the task, like hanging up his shirt, his body moved with an effortless grace. She could watch his body move and flex for the rest of her life and never tire of the sight. When he was down to his boxers and socks, he stepped forward as if to climb on the bed. She held up her hand. "Socks hafta go."

  He looked at her feet. "You still have yours on."

  She wiggled her foot at him. "Mine are cute with baby horses on them."

  He tugged his socks off and placed them on the dresser. He climbed into bed next to her and exhaled. "This does feel wonderful. I never knew lying down in the middle of the afternoon could feel so good."

  Wait until I introduce him to nooners.

  "So tell me about your job." She turned over on her side and propped her head up on her hand.

  He turned to face her and did the same. "I manage the units here in Noctem Falls, reporting only to my prince and my commander. There are six units in the city: Eta, Theta, Iota, Kappa, Lambda, and Mu. Our original function was to protect the city, but in more recent decades, we have not had to do much protecting, so we altered our roles a bit."

  "How so?"

  "We maintain a neutral stance in the city, often acting as arbiters. The Founding and Noble families know that as unit warriors, we do not show preferential treatment, so we can be trusted to be fair. We also help train young vampires to fly and manage their gifts. We rotate shifts patrolling the marketplace to keep the peace. Every once in a while, a fight will break out over a deal gone sour; we help calm things down. Hearing what has been going on in Lycaonia, I almost wish they had called on us for assistance. The men would have been climbing over each other to assist Alpha and the other units."

  "Why did they keep things quiet? I'm not afraid to tell you that I'm pissed that we weren't told to be on guard. If we had had the time, we could have fortified our city, but it's hard to fight what you can't see. Did you know the ferals could turn invisible like that?" Eva was beyond pissed that they had been blindsided. She had nearly gotten killed because she wasn't able to fight an enemy she couldn't see.

  "No. The only thing we were told was to be on the lookout for any missing person reports for neighboring cities. Aiden assumed that the information they were learning about the ferals in Lycaonia and releasing to the council was being passed on to the units.

  "My prince has come forward and said that, at council level, the information was deemed as 'need to know' only. As the units here do not patrol outside, we were categorized as individuals that did not need to know. Even now, the message that Prince Magnus put out in the newsletter is extremely vague. He states there is a new threat to paranormals across the country and, if possible, relocate to or nearby a pillar city as soon as arrangements can be made."

  Eva growled. "The people have a right to know," she fumed.

  "Eva, sweetheart, where would they go?"

  Eva looked at him. "What do you mean? They could come here, like we did." There was a pain in his eyes she didn't understand. "What am I missing?"

  "Eva, ever since I met you, I have been thanking the Gods that you were amongst the first wave of refugees. Dearest, Noctem Falls is not big enough to house everyone. At a certain point, we will have to turn people away. That is why the message was so vague, if they alerted the entire paranormal world as to what was going on, there would be a panic and everyone would be rushing to the four pillar cities, even those paranormals that would have never been on the enemy's radar.

  "In the end, you would have thousands of people milling around the pillar cities, possibly exposing us to humans, but ultimately creating the perfect circumstances for our people to be killed."

  Eva gasped. "It would be like shootin' fish in a barrel."

  "Your colloquialisms are like music; they add spice to the conversation."

  "Glad you like 'em. So we just have to hope to Fate that the ones that need protection go to a pillar city?"

  Adriel closed his eyes and rolled onto his back. "I think I understand my prince's impotent anger now. He knows that we are going to lose people; there simply is not anything that can be done about it."

  "He should ask Meryn. I swear that tiny dynamo has an answer for everything. I bet you I already have those maps she promised."

  "She is surprisingly organized and efficient. Considering her personality, I was expecting her to be a bit more scatterbrained."

  "She's adorable."

  "You like her already, do you not?"

  "She's just so small and mouthy, how can I not like her?"

  Adriel rolled back over to face her. "I heard from your former Alpha that the reason you got hurt was because you were saving a pregnant female from the ferals."

  Eva shook her head. "Technically, that's not true. Josie was already out of harm's way. I got hurt pulling a feral off our beta."

  "I also heard that you left a few dead in your wake."

  Eva felt acid building in her throat. "Is this the part where you tell me to stay out of danger?"

  "No."

  She blinked. "What?" She had fully been expecting him to give her the 'you are my mate, I need you safe' speech she had heard other females get on more than one occasion.

  "Actually, I was hoping I could persuade you to take over for Micah in guarding Meryn. I could really use him back in rotation, especially now with so many refugees needing both medical attention and transport up and down the
tunnel."

  "You trust me?"

  "Of course I do."

  "You believe I'm strong enough to keep her safe?" Was she dreaming? She never would have imagined her older, stuck in his ways, vampire mate would buck traditional gender roles and ask her to guard someone.

  Adriel chuckled. "Sweetheart, I saw the bodies of the ferals you killed, I know for a fact you are strong. You can partially shift your hands, correct?"

  She shrugged. "Maybe."

  "I thought we were not wearing masks with each other?" He leaned forward and brushed his nose against hers.

  "Fine! I'm a badass. Happy?"

  "Very, actually. I will still worry, of course, but it makes me feel better that you can shred a man's chest if he tries to harm you."

  "So what are they after, these crazy new ferals?"

  "Meryn has informed me that they call these new ferals 'reapers' because they steal shifter's souls. They have been killing pregnant female shifters to harvest the soul of the unborn child to act as a container to house the souls of the shifter parents. This gives the reapers the abilities of the shifters they kill."

  Eva felt ill. That's why they had been after Josie. "How do they become invisible? I didn't even smell them approaching."

  "They have hunted the chameleon shifters to the point of extinction. They have also discovered that since the necklace contains souls, it completely stops the decay process, hence no smell."

  Eva felt ice flood her veins. "They could be anywhere, anyone, and we wouldn't know until it was too late."

  "Yes."

  Eva rolled on to her back and stared up at the ceiling. The council was right. If this information got out, people would panic, never knowing if the person sitting beside them was one of the ones hunting them down. Last week, her biggest worry was if she'd ordered enough beer. Now, she was scared to death for her fellow shifters. This was like losing her parents all over again. She hated the feeling of being hunted.